FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT:
Terry Rephann
803 Trost Avenue
Cumberland, MD  21502
http://www.equotient.net/campaign.htm
equinfo@equotient.net
telephone/fax: (301) 722-3930  

City Council candidate announces details of "Next Generation" election platform.

Cumberland, MD - February 15, 2000.

Dr. Terry Rephann*, a Cumberland native who resides at 803 Trost Avenue announced his City Council platform today for the Cumberland municipal elections to be held in May. The theme of the platform "Next Generation Campaign for Cumberland" reflects a modern vision of economic development for Cumberland that is based on contemporary planning ideas and recognizes the importance of the new economy, technology, sustainability, globalization, reinventing government, and accountability, as well as traditional municipal bricks and mortar issues in achieving balanced economic development. The platform is divided into 10 sub-themes, including the following:

NEW ECONOMY PROJECT

Summary: Support economic development efforts that emphasize development of human resources, infrastructure, value added, and industrial retention and expansion rather than industrial recruitment and tax/subsidy incentives for footloose firms.

• Western Maryland Economic Development Task Force. Support initiatives of the Western Maryland Economic Development Task Force as appropriate. ·
• Firm Clusters. Identify core industry clusters and local competitive advantages. Market the city with information from critical industrial self-study.
• Business Park Themes. Develop "new economy" themes for municipal industrial parks and business districts.
• Fiscal Impacts. Implement a fiscal impact instrument for evaluating and rewarding any tax and loan incentive packages. ·
• Coming Home. Develop an online electronic database of former residents wishing to "come home" and a place to mount their qualifications for local employment opportunities.
• Tourism Marketing Analysis. Develop a visitor marketing analysis to identify service needs currently being met and any deficiencies.
• Information Capacity. Provide support and encouragement for local information firms to expand reliance on locally generated critical information capacities.
• Educational Partnerships. Build new partnerships with local educational institutions and expand student internship participation. ·
• Guaranteed Workforce. Work with county educators to develop a "Guaranteed Workforce" plan.
• Community Technology Center. Explore the possibility of developing a 'Community Technology Center' for the Cumberland area.

CYBERCITY 2010

Summary: Improve information dissemination, on-line marketing, and customer service using new electronic technologies. ·

• Electronic Town Hall. Create an electronic town hall which allows citizen web participation in city meetings, informal "straw polls" concerning city issues, and on-line payment of municipal bills and fees.
• Technology Plan. Develop a technology plan for municipal government. Undertake a critical audit of the city's technological capabilities and deficits.
• Web Business Directory. Work with consortium of independent web businesses to build one stop access to local businesses having a web presence.
• Web Cam. Mount a web cam of central business district.

KIDS COUNT

Summary: Improve recreational amenities, health, and safety for Cumberland's children. ·

• Fluoridation. Develop a water fluoridation plan that meets the health needs of our area's children.
• Recreational Improvements. Implement findings of parks and recreation plan.
• Safe Streets. Make road maintenance, accessibility, signage and safety improvements in vicinity of schools, playgrounds, and bus-stops a priority issue.

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS

Summary: Develop global partnerships that provide new models and perspectives for community development, that enhance international prospecting and exporting opportunities, and that complement municipal marketing efforts.

• Sister City. Sponsor Sister City initiative through Sister City International with a European "best practice" city of similar size.
• Babylon Network. Develop an inventory of bilingual residents to assist in international firm recruitment and assimilation of international professionals.

POTHOLES PLUS

Summary: Improve information systems for transportation planning, emphasize infrastructure investment, and develop municipal services that are run more like the private sector

• Road Prioritization System. Develop transparent system for prioritizing transportation needs and improvements. ·
• Infrastructure. Increase share of municipal grant spending on street maintenance and construction.
• Reinvent Government. Apply building design, quality control, signage, and customer service standards similar to those employed in the private sector for municipal services.
• Regional Airport. Provide information support for critical infrastructures such as the regional airport.

PATHWAYS TO SUSTAINABILITY

Summary: Promote environmentally friendly development so that our municipality lives within the limits of nature and embodies quality.

• Bicycle and Pedestrian Friendly City. Create a pedestrian and bicycle friendly city by integrating Canal Trail, Allegany Highland Trail, and potential Potomac River Greenway Trail with a municipal bike path grid that accesses points of interest in city.
• Energy Conservation. Introduce design and zoning standards that promote energy conservation efforts.
• Monitor City Environmental Quality. Report results of water, air, and solid waste pollution audits. Utilize sustainability indicators in marketing and accountability measurement.

SELLING OUR CITY

Summary: Improve marketing efforts to increase visibility of Cumberland and its industrial/tourism assets to the region and world.

• Image and Identity. Improve the identity, image, and marketing of the town by developing new municipal logos.
• On-line Marketing. Improve online (WWW) marketing of the city.

SMART CHOICES

Summary: Reinvigorate the municipal strategic planning process and rationalize municipal service delivery.

• Mission and Vision. Re-write the municipal mission and vision. Develop a revised statement that is achievable and measurable and link it with a revised strategic plan.
• Consolidation. Support efforts to consolidate municipal services with County where appropriate.
• Municipal downsizing. Tie municipal staffing levels more closely to population in service area. Reduce staff where appropriate and pass savings along to taxpayers.

SAFE WITHIN

Summary: Take measures to increase safety in the Central Business District and improve municipal health care opportunities.

• Downtown Mall Safety. Support stricter enforcement of loitering prohibitions in public shopping spaces.
• Parking Garage Safety. Reserve first-level parking spaces in municipal parking garages for women during nighttime hours.
• Regional Health Care Center. Support consolidation needs in health care to assist local agencies achieve economics of scale and scope in health care delivery. Strongly support expansion of specialty clinics at Memorial Campus.
• Health Care Targeting. Identify unmet specialist needs in regional health care matrix. Participate in aggressive recruitment of qualified professionals.

ACCOUNTABILITY NOW

Summary: Make elected officials accountable for developments that occur during their tenure. Improve public participation and provide leadership on key issues.

• · Municipal Benchmarking. Establish quantitative targets for important indicators of community economic, environmental, health, and social well-being and track annual measurements showing progress toward targets.
• · State of the City. Encourage the city mayor to develop an annual "State of the City" address outlining achievements of past fiscal year and goals for the next.
• · Diverse Viewpoints. Encourage more diverse viewpoints on municipal action committees, including the participation of individuals who might oppose the action being studied.
• · Leadership. Provide leadership on key issues affecting the welfare of the City.